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Topic: [Aura] Base Class - Marshal (Read 348 times)

Marshal base classThis version of the marshal is a bit more active than the original. In addition to auras (which should be a bit more interesting and useful now), the marshal has a variety of commands to use which provide a variety of temporary buffs and debuffs. This marshal uses a new mechanic, presence, which ebbs and flows based on how much you use your abilities. The more you shout about, the less effect each command will have, but if you take the time you make every command count, they'll keep their prime potency.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: As a marshal, you are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).

Auras (Ex): As a marshal, your presence and leadership exerts an effect on allies in your vicinity. You can learn to produce different effects, or auras, over the course of your career. You may project one minor aura and one major aura at a time. If you possess the ability to project auras from multiple sources, the number of auras of any given type that you can project at once does not stack. For instance, a divine mind 2/marshal 2 would be able to project both a major aura and a mantle aura at the same time, but only a single minor aura.

Activating an aura is a swift action. The aura remains in effect until you use a free action to dismiss it or you activate another aura of the same kind (major or minor). You can have an aura active continually; thus, an aura can be in effect at the start of a combat encounter even before you take your first turn.

As a marshal, activating an aura is a purely mental action. Unless otherwise noted, your auras affect all allies within 60 feet (including yourself) that you can communicate with, even if you don't share a language. An ally must have an Intelligence score to gain the bonus (mindless creatures cannot benefit from your auras). Your aura is dismissed if you are dazed, unconscious, stunned, paralyzed, or otherwise unable to communicate.

Major Aura: You can project a major aura in addition to your minor aura. A major aura grants allies bonuses or harms enemies. The magnitude of the bonus granted by your major auras is initially +1, and it improves by 1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter. You begin play knowing two major auras of your choice. As your marshal level increases, you gain access to new auras, as indicated on the table above.

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Bloodlust: Allies heal an amount of hit points up to half the damage they deal with any attack they make or effect they produce. Each attack or effect cannot heal the ally for more hit points than twice your aura bonus, no matter how many times it deals damage or how many targets it deals damage to. Ongoing effects only heal based on the damage dealt as they are produced (not continuing damage they may deal later on).

Hardy Soldiers: Allies gain a bonus equal to twice your aura bonus to any damage reduction they may have. Allies that do not already have it are treated as having DR 0/- before applying this aura's bonus.

Inspire Awe: Enemies within your aura must make a Will save or be fascinated by you for as long as they remain within your aura. Creatures that are threatened or engaged in combat are instead shaken, or panicked if they have fewer HD than your aura bonus. A successful saving throw grants immunity for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting effect. If your aura bonus is at least +3, a successful save only grants immunity for 1 round. If your aura bonus is at least +4, the effect is no longer mind-affecting.

Inspire Chaos: Enemies within your aura that attempt to attack you or an ally within the aura must make a Will save or be confused for 1 round (after resolving the attack). A successful saving throw grants immunity for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting effect. If your aura bonus is at least +3, a successful save only grants immunity for 1 round. If your aura bonus is at least +4, the effect is no longer mind-affecting.

Inspire Pain: Each round at the beginning of their turn, enemies in the aura take damage equal to twice your aura bonus. This damage can be either lethal or nonlethal damage, chosen when the aura is activated. You can change this selection as the same type of action as activating an aura. This damage is not affected by damage reduction.

Inspire Peace: Enemies within your aura that attempt to attack you or an ally within the aura must make a Will save or be dazed for 1 round (after resolving the attack). A successful saving throw grants immunity for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting effect. If your aura bonus is at least +3, a successful save only grants immunity for 1 round. If your aura bonus is at least +4, the effect is no longer mind-affecting.

Inspire Vulnerability: Enemies suffer a penalty to their Armor Class.

Inspire Weakness: Enemies suffer a penalty on attack rolls.

Mindbreaker Legion: Allies gain power resistance equal to 5 plus your level plus twice your aura bonus. Allies can raise or lower their power resistance without an action, even if it is not their turn, they are unable to act, or they are unaware.

Motivate Ardor: Allies gain a bonus on weapon damage rolls equal to 1d4 per point of aura bonus.

Motivate Attack: Allies gain a bonus on attack rolls.

Motivate Awareness: Allies within the aura gain blindsense out to 5 feet per point of aura bonus and can see through nonmagical darkness within the aura. Allies gain a bonus equal to twice your aura bonus on initiative checks and on Listen and Spot checks.

Motivate Care: Allies gain a bonus to Armor Class.

Motivate Communication: Allies can communicate with each other, as though with telepathy. Allies gain a bonus equal to twice your aura bonus on saves against language-dependent effects and fear effects, and on Decipher Script and Forgery checks.

Motivate Endurance: Allies gain a bonus to their Armor Class while the ally has half of its maximum hit points or less. Allies within the aura that are reduced to 0 or lower hp automatically stabilize, can act normally, are are not at risk of damage from performing strenuous actions. While at 0 hp or lower, allies gain 5 temporary hit points per point of your aura bonus each round at the beginning of your turn. These temporary hit points last until the beginning of your next turn (when they are granted anew). Allies do not die and are not destroyed until their hit points are 5 lower than normal per point of your aura bonus.

Motivate Entrenchment: Allies gain a bonus equal to twice your aura bonus on Balance checks and on checks, rolls, and saves made to resist being bull rushed, tripped, or forcibly moved. Allies also have a 15% chance to negate the extra damage from critical hits and precision damage per point of your aura bonus.

Motivate Insight: Each ally gains an insight bonus on a single attack roll, saving throw, or check of their choice each round. The ally must choose to apply this bonus before making the roll.

Motivate Mobility: Allies ignore difficult terrain and gain a bonus equal to twice your aura bonus on Escape Artist checks, Move Silently checks, grapple checks to resist or escape a grapple, on saves against movement-impairing effects, and to their Armor Class against attacks of opportunity.

Motivate Retribution: Melee attacks that hit allies cause the attacker to suffer 1d6 damage per point of aura bonus. This damage is not affected by damage reduction.

Motivate Urgency: Allies gain a 5-foot bonus to all movement speeds, plus an additional 5 feet per point of aura bonus. Allies gain a bonus equal to twice your aura bonus on Balance, Climb, Survival, and Swim checks. If your aura bonus is at least +3, allies can move 10 feet as a swift action, using any movement mode they possess, as long as they perform no other movement during the round (as with a 5-foot step). If your aura bonus is at least +4, this movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Resilient Troops: Allies gain a bonus on all saves.

Spellbreaker Legion: Allies gain spell resistance equal to 5 plus your level plus twice your aura bonus. Allies can raise or lower their spell resistance without an action, even if it is not their turn, they are unable to act, or they are unaware.

Skill Focus (Diplomacy): Because you have a way with people, you gain Skill Focus (Diplomacy) as a bonus feat. If you already have that feat, you can choose a different one that you qualify for.

Aura Shift (Ex): You can activate multiple auras at once. Beginning at 2nd level, you can activate two auras as part of the same swift action. At 13th level, this improves to three auras at once. Once you reach 20th level, you can activate any number of auras at once.

In addition, starting at 7th level, you can dismiss a single aura and activate a new one of the same type in its place as an immediate action. Beginning at 19th level, you can do so with two auras as an immediate action.

Commands: Beginning at 2nd level, you learn to use commands.

Commands have the same range as your auras. The save DC of a command is 10 + 1/2 your current presence score + your Charisma modifier.

Commands are mind-affecting compulsion effects (although many have additional descriptors) and have no effect on creatures that are unaware of your presence or with which you cannot communicate (body language is usually sufficient, even if spoken language is impossible).

You are never affected by your own commands except where explicitly indicated. You cannot target yourself with your own command.

Commands are normally extraordinary abilities. The few supernatural commands have an effective caster level equal to your presence score.

You know and can use every marshal command of the ranks available to you. Initially, you can only use momentary commands. You gain access to tactical commands at 6th level, strategic commands at 10th level, warmaster commands at 14th level, and overlord commands at 18th level.

Most commands grow stronger or weaker with higher or lower presence scores. Determine a command's effect using your presence at the time you used it, before applying its presence cost. Any changes to your presence score after you use the command do not affect it.

In order to use a command, you must have a presence score of at least 1. After using a command, your presence score decreases by the command's presence cost. You need not have as much presence as the command's presence cost, but if you do not, you will have a negative presence score afterwards as a result.

Presence: Your presence score is a numerical representation of ability to lead in the heat of battle. You use your presence to determine the potency and effects of your commands. Each time you use a command, your presence decreases after resolving that ability's effects, which may reduce it below 0. The amount decreased depends on the command used. If your presence is 0 or lower, you cannot use commands.

Beginning at 2nd level, your maximum presence is equal to your marshal level. Lost presence returns at a rate of 1 point per round. You can also spend a full-round action to take stock of the battlefield in order to restore your presence to its maximum value.

Dilate Aura (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, the range of your auras and commands increases by 30 feet (to a total of 90 feet). Their range increases by 30 feet again every 3 levels thereafter.

Voice of the People (Ex): Beginning at 4th level, you learn to communicate across language barriers. Through a combination of body language, tone, and expression, you can make yourself understood by those who do not speak your language, and you can interpret their meaning the same way. Simple concepts that can be conveyed in a few words (such as "Help!" or "Drop your weapon!") can be conveyed automatically. More complex concepts require you to make a modified level check: d20 + your class level + either your Wisdom modifier (if trying to understand someone else) or Charisma modifier (if trying to make someone else understand you). Roll each only once per conversation. If you fail, you cannot try to communicate with that specific individual via this ability until you have gained a level. (Thus, it is possible, if you succeed in one roll but fail in the other, to hold a conversation where you can understand the other speaker but he cannot understand you, or vice-versa.)

The DC of the roll depends on creature type and how closely the individual's language is related to any of your own. The base DC for this roll is 20, and it increases or decreases based on how compatible your linguistic and nonverbal communication methods are with the individual. The ability works most effectively with other creatures of your type who speak a language that uses the same alphabet as a language you speak. (See Speak Language, PH 82, for this information.) Use the best modifier from each category to determine the DC of the check.

Table: Voice of the People

Creature's Type

DC Modifier

Same as yours

+0

Humanoid

+2

Fey, Giant, or Monstrous Humanoid

+5

Deathless, Dragon, Elemental, Outsider, or Undead

+10

Other creature type

+20

Creature's Languages

DC Modifier

Knows a language that uses the same alphabet as a language you know

+0

Knows at least 5 languages

+5

Knows at least one language

+10

Knows no languages, Int 3 or higher

+20

Knows no languages, Int 2 or less

+30

Mindless

+40

If the individual is deliberately trying to make himself understood, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on this roll. If you are attempting to interpret his speech from outside normal conversational distance (such as eavesdropping), you take a -4 penalty on this roll.

You can employ this ability with your commands in order to affect creatures that do not share a language with you. For the purpose of this ability, commands count as simple concepts and do not require a check.

If you have 5 or more ranks in Diplomacy, you gain a +2 bonus on this check for the purpose of making yourself understood. If you have 5 or more ranks in Sense Motive, you gain a +2 bonus on this check for the purpose of understanding another creature.

Extra Aura: At 5th level, you gain Extra Aura (minor aura) as a bonus feat, allowing you to project one more minor aura at once than normal (for a total of 2 minor auras and 1 major aura). At 10th level, you also gain Extra Aura (major aura) as a bonus feat, allowing you to project one more major aura at once than normal (for a total of 2 minor auras and 2 major auras). You must activate or dismiss your auras separately. You need not meet the prerequisites of these feats.

Leadership (Ex): Beginning at 6th level, you gain a Leadership score and you can attract followers as though you had the Leadership feat. This ability counts as the Leadership feat for the purposes of meeting the prerequisites of feats and other options. Consequently, this allows you to select most Leader feats. This does not grant any other benefits of the Leadership feat, however, such as the ability to attract a cohort.

If you ever take the Leadership feat, you gain a +2 bonus to your Leadership score and can use your Leadership score in place of your presence score when determining the effects of your commands on your followers (this doesn't let you use commands if you have an insufficient presence).

Fearless Leader (Ex): Beginning at 11th level, whenever you make a saving throw against a fear effect, you can elect to use your presence score (maximum 20) in place of the d20 roll. You do not automatically fail your saving throw if you use this ability with a presence of 1, nor do you automatically succeed with a presence of 20 or higher. This otherwise works just like a normal saving throw where you had rolled the indicated value, similar to taking 10 on a check. You must have at least 1 point of presence to use this ability. You can decide whether or not to use this ability after rolling your saving throw but before determining the results of the save.

Contingent Command (Ex): Starting at 14th level, you can prepare a plan of action with your allies. Select a single command you can use each time you use this ability. You must designate the targets of your command beforehand when you prepare it as a contingent command, all of whom must be willing and all of whom must be valid targets throughout the preparation time. This process takes at least 10 minutes to complete. If the command takes longer than 10 minutes, use that instead.

At any time, with no action, any of the targets of the command can will it to immediately come into effect. If the command targets multiple allies, any of them electing to use it causes the command to come into effect on all of them. Allies that are no longer in range are still affected by the command, although allies that are no longer valid targets of the command for other reasons are unaffected.

You can have only one contingent command at a time; if a second is prepared, the first one (if still active) is cancelled.

A command used this way does not reduce your presence score by its cost and its effects are determined as though you had your normal maximum presence, regardless of your presence score at the time.

Aura Mastery (Ex): Beginning at 20th level, once per day as a swift action, you can project any number of minor auras and major auras at once for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1 round). You can change which major and minor auras you are projecting and activate new ones as part of this action.

This command brings a dead ally back to life. The subject can have been dead for a number of rounds no greater than your presence score. This functions as a raise dead spell, except that the subject does not lose a level or Constitution and has 10 hit points per point of your presence, to a maximum of her full normal hit points. For the duration, the subject also adds one quarter of your presence score as a morale bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves, and checks against the creature that killed her.

A given creature can be affected by this command no more than once per day, even from multiple marshals.

With a word and a gesture, you send an unwanted foe to the farthest reaches of the multiverse.

If the subject fails its saving throw, it is instantly sent to another plane. It arrives at a random location on a random plane. There is no guarantee as to the safety of the arrival location, although the subject never arrives in a location immediately fatal to it (such as inside another solid object or in the distant airless void of space).

Further, the subject is barred from the plane you sent it away from for the duration. No magic or effect of lesser power than a miracle or wish spell can allow it to return to that plane. Even natural planar boundaries and portals are impassable. A subject banished from the astral plane is consequently unable to use most teleportation effects, as they frequently bring the user to another location through the astral plane. Likewise, if the subject manages to re-enter the plane from which you banished it, such a teleportation effect will be unable to complete its return from the astral plane, leaving the subject stranded in a random location on the astral plane.

In an emergency, you can use this command on yourself in order to escape a perilous situation, although the peril must be great indeed to be worth the risk.

You threaten your foes with the power of the storm. Your words call forth a bolt of lightning that unerringly strikes the target and produces a tremendous thunderclap as it hits.

This command deals 1d6 points of damage per point of presence to the subject. Half of this damage is electricity, while the other half is sonic damage. The subject is also deafened for the duration. A successful saving throw halves the damage and negates the deafness.

You command your enemies into confusion, breaking morale and unit cohesion. Affected creatures find it difficult to work together or even to distinguish friend from foe.

Each subject becomes unaffected by morale bonuses caused by creatures other than itself. It can neither use nor benefit from aid another attempts. It cannot voluntarily allow creatures to pass through its space, nor can it voluntarily give up its saving throw against effects caused by creatures other than itself. A subject always treats creatures other than itself as opponents, never as allies. This does not force a subject to attack its former allies, but this does influence how its abilities affect others.

Creatures with hive minds can act normally with respect to other creatures that are part of their hive mind and the effects that they produce.

A swarm or mob without a hive mind affected by this ability also becomes dazed and immobilized for the duration and cannot use its swarm or mob up attack.

This command can target and affect a swarm or mob as though it was a single creature, even if it does not have a hive mind.

Your taunts break your foe's psyche. Every setback seems like an insurmountable obstacle, every mistake seems like an utter failure.

The subject suffers a -2 morale penalty on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. Creatures who succeed at their first save are immune to the further effects of the command.

Furthermore, when the subject takes damage during a round, the penalties increase. At the beginning of each of the subject's turns, it must make an additional saving throw if it has taken any damage since the beginning of its previous turn. On a failed saving throw, the morale penalty increases by an additional -2. Successfully making a saving throw prevents the penalty from increasing but does nothing to prevent the penalty from increasing next round, nor does it rid the creature of penalties already accrued. The magnitude of the penalty cannot increase in this way to beyond your presence score.

The subject cannot be reduced below a number of hit points equal to your presence score minus 10 due to damage. Any hit point damage in excess of that is prevented.

Additionally, the subject's nonlethal damage cannot increase to greater 10 minus your presence score beyond than the subject's remaining hit points at any given time as a result of damage. Nonlethal damage dealt beyond that is prevented. Lethal damage that would reduce the subject's hit points low enough also removes a commensurate amount of nonlethal damage.

Other sources of hit point loss, such as gaining negative levels or a decrease in Constitution, apply normally and may still kill the subject. The subject's hit points do not increase if they are below this threshold when you use this command. Likewise, the subject's nonlethal damage does not decrease if it is above this threshold.

Thus, as long as you use this command with a presence score of at least 1, your ally cannot be killed by being reduced to -10 hit points. Similarly, the subject cannot be dropped below 1 hit point nor knocked unconscious from nonlethal damage if your presence score is at least 11.

A given creature can be affected by this command no more than once per day, even from multiple marshals.

Each subject that fails its saving throw becomes mystically linked together for the duration. Whenever any linked subject fails a saving throw against a non-harmless effect, all linked subjects are subject to the full effects of the failed save, even if they succeeded on their saving throw or weren't targeted at all.

You threaten your foes with the power of the storm. Your words carry the force of gales and tornadoes.

This command deals 1d4 points of electricity damage plus 1 per point of presence to the subject. On a failed saving throw, it also feels the force of a tornado beating down on it. Large and smaller creatures are blown away, huge creatures are knocked down, and creatures of any size are checked.

Checked: Creatures are unable to move forward against the force of the wind. Flying creatures are blown back 1d6×5 feet.

Knocked Down: Creatures are knocked prone by the force of the wind. Flying creatures are instead blown back 1d6×10 feet.

Blown Away: Creatures on the ground are knocked prone and rolled 1d4×10 feet, taking 1d4 points of nonlethal damage per 10 feet. Flying creatures are blown back 2d6×10 feet and take 2d6 points of nonlethal damage due to battering and buffeting.

The subject can make a second attempt to save against an ongoing mind-affecting effect affecting her against which she failed their initial saving throw. She gains a morale bonus on this extra saving throw equal to your presence score. If the subject is affected by more than one ongoing mind-affecting effect, she chooses one of them to retry the save against. If the subject succeeds on the saving throw on the second attempt, the effect's effects are reduced to what the subject would have suffered had she succeeded on her initial saving throw. This effect never restores hit points, ability score damage, or other instantaneous effects, but it does eliminate any conditions and continuous effects that were directly caused by failing the initial save against the effect. If an effect doesn't allow a save (such as power word stun), then this effect won't help the subject recover.

The subject can stand from prone with no action and without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Additionally, the subject is cured of a number of debilitating conditions, depending on your presence score. All of the following conditions requiring your presence score or lower, as indicated on the table below, are removed. Conditions that are the result of continuous effects (such as being staggered when your nonlethal damage exactly equals your hit point total) are not removed.

The subjects each gain an additional move action, even if it is not their turn. This move action must be used immediately or it is lost. A subject can only use this move action to move normally, using whatever movement modes she may possess. The subjects can move a maximum total distance of up to 5 feet per point of presence, divided among them as you choose in increments of 5 feet. You must assign at least 5 feet of movement allowance to each target of this command.

A given creature can be affected by this command no more than once per round, even from multiple marshals.

The subject gains cover. Among other benefits, this grants her a +4 bonus to her Armor Class and a +2 bonus on Reflex saves. She can make Hide checks (assuming she is not observed), and attacks of opportunity cannot be made against her.

Whenever the subject begins to attack another creature or use a non-harmless ability on another creature, with the exception of other creatures affected by this command, she loses the cover until the beginning of her next turn; this loss of cover occurs just before the action begins, so the cover does not apply against readied actions, attacks of opportunity, and other reactions.

This command immediately ends if the subject moves more than 5 feet in a single round.

The subject drops everything held and falls prone. A flying creature descends twice its fly speed towards the ground first, to a maximum of the distance it can safely descend in a single move action given its flight capabilities and maneuverability. It only falls prone if it reaches the ground by the end of this movement.

The subject cannot be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the subject by flanking her, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than your presence score. Despite the similarities, this does not stack with the benefits of the improved uncanny dodge ability.

Additionally, the subject gains a morale bonus to her Armor Class against attacks of opportunity equal to your presence score.

You call out your opposing number as the rank and file cower before you.

Each subject that fails its saving throw recognizes you as the greatest threat on the battlefield. How each subject is affected depends on its Hit Dice as compared to your presence score.

Table: Warmaster's Challenge

Creature's HD

Effect

Equal to or greater than your presence +5

Irked

Less than your presence +5

Challenged

Less than your presence

Challenged, Shaken

Less than your presence -5

Frightened

Less than your presence -10

Panicked

Irked: Particularly powerful foes recognize your challenge, but know you are not their equal, merely a distracting fool. Still, their distraction causes them to suffer a -4 penalty on all attack rolls and weapon damage rolls against creatures other than you.

Challenged: Your equals are compelled to perceive you as the greatest immediate danger and will correspondingly direct their attacks against you in preference to other foes. Such a creature is not forced to ignore your allies or other dangers that pose a threat to it, nor is it forced to even engage you directly. However, the creature must either seek to engage you (attacking you where possible, and focusing on others only when they make it difficult or impossible to do so), or seek to retreat from combat with you, focusing on others only when they impede the creature's escape (selfless creatures may sometimes also engage other creatures that impede the escape of their allies as well as themselves, but they are not required to do so).

Shaken: Weaker foes recognize you as a worthy opponent, but may feel some apprehension about facing you. They are also shaken, in addition to being challenged (as described above).

Panicked: Some would-be-soldiers have no place on the battlefield. They are panicked.

The shaken, frightened, and panicked conditions caused by this ability stack with other sources of fear as normal, although not with additional uses of this command, even from other marshals.

Creatures immune to fear are still affected by this ability. They are irked if their Hit Dice are greater than or equal to your presence, or challenged if their Hit Dice are less than your presence, instead of the normal effects.

Whenever the subject makes a saving throw, if she rolls less than or equal to your presence score on the d20 roll, she can elect to use your presence score (minimum 1, maximum 20) in place of the d20 roll. The subject does not automatically fail her saving throw if you use this command with a presence of 1, nor does she automatically succeed with a presence of 20 or higher. This otherwise works just like a normal saving throw where the subject had rolled the indicated value, similar to taking 10 on a check.

Change Log

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26/6/2017: Updated formatting regarding capitalization.22/6/2017: Reposted in Min Max Forum.4/3/2017: Typo fix.26/6/2016: Motivate Urgency major aura adds an additional 5 feet of speed, and allows 10 feet of movement as a swift action at higher aura bonuses.21/6/2016: Added Inspire Discord, Inspire Pain, Inspire Vulnerability, Inspire Weakness, and Motivate Retribution major auras. Bloodlust major aura healing increased to twice aura bonus, and expanded to include damaging effects. Motivate Endurance major aura now grants an AC bonus at low hp and allows allies to remain alive at further negative hp.19/6/2016: Major auras that gave bonuses to skills, to saves against specific, limited effects, and to other things that minor auras can boost equally effectively now do so at twice your aura bonus.1/6/2016: Corrected the Watch Your Back command's AC bonus against AoOs to be equal to your presence score (previously, did not say how large the bonus was at all).7/3/2016: Explicitly stated that auras provide bonuses (and penalties) with a magnitude equal to your aura bonus.30/11/2015: Typo fix.29/11/2015: Extra Aura class feature now gives the Extra Aura feat as a bonus feat, which does the exact same thing. Aura Mastery now lets you project any number of minor and major auras at once instead of +10 and +5. The Withstand command now uses the same text as the Fearless Leader class feature about not automatically succeeding or failing with 1 or 20 presence.2/11/2014: Typo fix.14/7/2014: First posted.

Some thoughts on a few of the marshal's major auras at 1st-2nd level (mostly 1st).

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Motivate Endurance: Allies gain a bonus to their Armor Class while the ally has half of its maximum hit points or less. Allies within the aura that are reduced to 0 or lower hp automatically stabilize, can act normally, are are not at risk of damage from performing strenuous actions. While at 0 hp or lower, allies gain 5 temporary hit points per point of your aura bonus each round at the beginning of your turn. These temporary hit points last until the beginning of your next turn (when they are granted anew). Allies do not die and are not destroyed until their hit points are 5 lower than normal per point of your aura bonus.

Current thoughts on the matter of Motivate Endurance: The current version (above) seems like it would be too potent in the earliest of levels. Thanks to the Diehard aspect, there's an extra 10 hp to work with in a pinch for everyone in the party (at least until the marshal himself dies). It's a risky 10 hp, since you're eating into the buffer between unconsciousness and death, but it's there, and with it the aura effectively adds 15 hp to your staying power right at 1st level. There's also an inconsistency in power level, as nonliving creatures don't actually get that extra 10 hp buffer to use.

Also, technically, Motivate Endurance has a similar problem with nonlethal damage as Diehard from the PHB does. Any nonlethal damage is greater than your hit point total if you're at negative hp, so you fall unconscious anyways. That, or you're functionally immune to nonlethal damage, but only when at 0 or lower hp. Either way is inane.

There's also a small issue of Motivate Endurance functionally adding to your hp total, yet not really doing so, thus allowing it to stack with things that actually do, like the Tough It Out minor aura, which it shouldn't stack with.

One last thing, not directly related to the rebalancing effort, is the way temp hp gets granted. It's entirely binary, meaning that 1 hp difference can grant you 5 or more temp hp each round. There's also a little confusion with the timing, as there is either a theoretical moment where you've lost the previous round's temp hp but haven't received the temp hp for the new round, or you might not actually get temp hp in the new round at all due to the remaining temp hp from the previous round pushing you above the threshold. It's bugged me for a long time, but it never seemed worth the effort to rework on its own.

Proposed changes: Essentially rewriting the aura's mechanics, although keeping to the same concepts. Remove the Diehard aspect (conscious and can act at negative hp), although keep the automatic stabilization. Change the extended death threshold thing to a hit point bonus instead (similar to the Tough It Out minor aura). The temp hp at 0 or lower gets rejiggered, too. Note that the change from extending the death and consciousness thresholds to adding hp directly means that the AC bonus on 1/2 hp doesn't kick in until you've taken slightly more damage than before.

Motivate Endurance: Allies gain a bonus to current and maximum hit points equal to five times your aura bonus. These hit points are not lost first like temporary hit points, and disappear when the aura is lost. Allies with half their (newly increased) maximum hit points or less gain a bonus to their Armor Class. Allies reduced to 0 or lower hit points automatically stabilize. Each round at the beginning of your turn, allies with fewer hit points than five times your aura bonus, excluding temporary hit points, gain temporary hit points equal to the difference. These temporary hit points last until the beginning of your next turn as new temporary hit points as granted, or until the aura is lost.

Note: These changes would also apply to Pain and Suffering (divine mind mantle aura) and Stamina (dragon shaman draconic aura).

Side note: Add in a bonus to Endurance-modified checks/rolls (as the Long Haul minor aura) as an additional minor benefit. It's thematic, if nothing else, and it feels weird to have an aura called Motivate Endurance not boost Endurance. I believe the standard for secondary skill boosts on major-tier auras (divine, draconic, major, mantle) is 2x the aura bonus.

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Inspire Pain: Each round at the beginning of their turn, enemies in the aura take damage equal to twice your aura bonus. This damage can be either lethal or nonlethal damage, chosen when the aura is activated. You can change this selection as the same type of action as activating an aura. This damage is not affected by damage reduction.

Inspire Pain and the auras like it for the divine mind (Death, Fire) and paladin (Wrath), are intended to provide a small but consistent source of damage to nearby enemies. They are intended to build up damage across multiple foes to aid the actual attacks and AoEs in dropping them, similar to how damage buffing auras do, but along a different vector. The auras are only intended to actually finish off enemies that have already been weakened by attacks that nearly, but not quite, dropped them already.

Inspire Pain's damage value is low, but unlike the similar auras of other classes, is available at 1st level, when monster hit points are also low. At higher levels, the damage the aura deals is insufficient to drop all but the weakest of enemies in a reasonable time frame, but CR 1/2 and lower monsters can often have 6 hp or less.

Proposed changes: The damage trigger changes from the beginning of enemy turns to the end. This gives enemies one extra round of actions before being dropped, and allows some counterplay by allowing them to flee beyond the range of the aura in order to avoid the damage before it triggers.

Motivate Retribution: Melee attacks that hit allies cause the attacker to suffer 1d6 damage per point of aura bonus. This damage is not affected by damage reduction.

Motivate Retribution's reactive damage is a concern, much like Inspire Pain's automatic damage. The numbers are larger, although the triggers are less frequent. Motivate Retribution also has a slightly more direct comparison to damage adders like Motivate Ardor, which add +1d4 damage per point of bonus to allies attacks.

Against any melee attacker, Motivate Retribution is guaranteed to trigger if the enemy wishes to actually do anything in the fight. If the attacker needs to trigger the reactive damage enough to be dropped himself in the process of dropping a PC, then the battle is effectively won automatically by the Motivate Retribution aura, and that's a bad thing. Small hp pools, small to moderate damage values, and a prevalence of melee attacks (as opposed to ranged or magical attack vectors) at low levels make this a concerning issue. The variance in the retributive damage, and in standard damage rolls, does make an absolute guarantee of this much harder, at least.